Electrical block-signal.



PATENTED OCT. 25, 1904.

H. BROOKS. ELECTRICAL BLOCK SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 21, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

M MAM MMA u UNITED STATES Patented October 25', 1904.

PATENT OEEicE.

J. W. PORTER AND M.

A. BERG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRICAL BLOCK-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 773,369, dated October25, 1904. Application filed December 21, 1903. Serial No. 186,042. (Nomodel.)

T (LZZ 2117210712, it ntrty concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD BROOKS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wheaton, in the county of Dupage and State of Illinois,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ElectricalBlock-Signals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is primarily intended for use on electric railways, andis intended to provide a block-signal system which will be absolutelyreliable under all circumstances and which will be actuated to set thedangersignal not only by the passage of a train upon the block fromeither direction, but by the impairment of the block system itself dueto accidents or natural causes; and the invention consists in the use ofa closed-circuit system and the employment of a series of electromagnetsfor actuating the signals.

ployment of apparatus which will be automatically operated by the wheelsof a train passing onto the block and of the employment ofelectromagnets having a plurality of coils or windings which areindependently charged for the operation of the semaphores.

The invention finally consists of the features of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The drawing illustrating the invention is a diagrammatic view of anempty block, showing the entire apparatus in normal condition with thesemaphore dropped.

As shown, A represents a section of rail extending throughout the entireblock and partially broken away. Adjacent to the rail and in suitableposition for the contact of a wheel-flange is a contact plate or bar a,suitably insulated to prevent its contact with the 4 rail, and at adistance equal to the space between two carwheels of a truck is asimilar contact-plate a. It will be seen that by this arrangement aprimary circuit can be established between the two plates a and a by thepassage of a car-truck thereon.

Leading from the plate a a wire a leads to and forms a winding of amagnet B and passing therefrom connects with a circuitwire 6,

The invention further consists in the emwhich latter passes through abattery 6 and and is wound thereon in reverse relation to the winding ofthe wire a forming a complete circuit, and said circuit-wire isconnected with the plate a by means of the wire 6 Under normalconditions when the block is empty a circuit will be established throughthe magnet B by the circuit-wire 6; but when a truck establishes acircuit between the plates at and a a counter-circuit will beestablished through the magnet B by the wire a which will counteract thefirst circuit and deenergize the magnet.

The magnet is provided with a stem O, which passes into the hollow corethereof, and is connected with a lever c, which in turn is 5 grounded atthe point 0. I/Vhen the block is empty, the lever will be held in araised position and in contact with a plate 0 to which leads a wire D,which forms one of the signal-operating wires.

It will be understood that the apparatus hitherto described isduplicated at the opposite end of the block, so that when a train passesonto the block from either direction one of the magnets, B, will bedeenergized and break 7 5 the circuit which leads from one of thecircuit-wires, D or G, through one of the'levers,

0, and into the ground at either the point 0 or g, as the case may be.

In describing the apparatus the circuit hitherto described will becalled the primary circuit.

Wire D leads through a battery (Z to an electromagnet E, which has acompanion magnet E in opposite relation thereto duplicated like- 5 wiseat the opposite end of the block, and the circuit through the magnet Ewill be described as the first circuit, and it will be understood that asimilar arrangement of wires and magnets is employed at the opposite endof the 9 block.

The magnets E and E when the circuit is closed under normal conditionswill hold in raised position a pair of oppositely-disposed levers e,which are pivoted at their ends to uprights e or in any other suitablemanner,

returns to the opposite end of the magnet B 5 and at the free ends ofthe levers are arranged pa-wls or dogs a, which are adapted to engagethe teeth of a ratchet-wheel F rotatably mounted and turn the same inone direction or the other when one or the other of the magnets, E andE, is deenergized by the breaking of the circuit, and when the circuitis broken and one of the levers, c, is released from the magneticinfluence it will be drawn down by means of a spring a or otherwise, andthe dog or pawl will move the ratchet-wheel a single point in onedirection or another.

The ratchet-wheel is provided with an armf, which is adapted undernormal conditions when the block is clear to rest upon and establish acircuit between an inner contactplate 7 and an outercontact-platef andin order to provide for the rotation of the arm f guide-rings f" and 7"are provided which, however, serve no other function than to provide forthe circular travel of the arm.

Leading from the magnet E is a wire G, which leads to and formsone-third of the winding of an electromagnet G, and the wire Ur" afterbeing coiled one-third of the extent of the magnet is carried to thecon'ipanion magnet at the opposite end of the block and there in turnforms one-third of the winding of said magnet, after which it passesthrough the magnet E of the companion block system and is finallygrounded at the point g, from which it will be seen that under normalconditions when the block is clear and the contact established betweenthe plate 0 and the lever c a complete circuit will be establishedthrough the ground and through the companion magnets G, which operatethe semaphores.

A second circuit similar in every respect to the first is establishedfrom the ground at the point g through the lever 0 and contact-plate 0and through a wire (i which is a companion wire of the wire 1), andpasses through a battery 9 and the magnet E around thesemaphore-operating magnet at the end of the line from which it startedand back, along with the wire G, to the first-describedsemaphoreoperating magnet, where it forms a second third of the windingthereof, and fin ally passes through the magnet E and is grounded at thepoint G".

A third circuit is established in each of the signal-operating apparatusat the ends of the block by means of a wire H leading from the innercontact-plate f, which wire forms a final third of each of thesemaphore-operating electromagnets and after passing through a battery7t returns to the outer contact-plate f so that under normal conditionswhen the block is clear and the arm f establishes a contact between theinner and outer plates the third circuit will be closed through theelectromagnet, thereby, in combination with the first and secondcircuits, serving to energize the semaphore-operating magnet to its.full extent.

l l l It will be understood that the companion apparatus has a thirdcircuit similar in all respects to the one hitherto described and thatthe ratchet-wheels on the two ends of the block will be simultaneouslyoperated in the same direction by the passage of a train onto the blockfrom either direction by reason of the fact that the two magnets E andlikewise the two magnets E will be simultaneously deenergized by thebreaking of the first or second circuit, as the case may be, througheither the wire D or the wire G depending upon the direction from whichthe train enters the block.

Each of the semaphore-operating magnets is provided with a slidable rod1, which onters the core, and said rod is connected by a link i with asemaphore-arm I of the usual construction, which arm is pivoted to anupright 1 and provided with a counterbalancingweight '5', which is heavyenough to raise the arm when one or more of the circuits which tend toenergize the semaphore operating magnets is broken, but which is notheavy enough to counteract the draw or pull of the magnet when all threeof the circuits are tending to energize the same.

In operation when the block is clear the two primary circuits at theends of the line will both be closed; but when a train passes onto theblock from either direction one or the other of the primary circuitswill be broken, and either the first or second circuit through thesemaphore-magnet will be broken by the breaking of one of the primarycircuits, thereby deenergizing the triple-coil magnets to onethird oftheir extent, allowing the danger-signal to arise. With the breaking ofeither the first or second circuit one of the two sets of magnets E andE will be likewise deenergized, causing the ratchet-wheel to move acertain number of teeth in one direction or another, depending upon thenumber of trucks of a train passing on the block, since it is evidentthat each truck will deenergize the magnets and cause the dog to movethe ratchet-wheel one point in one direction or the other, dependingupon the end of the block at which the train entors. The movement of theratchet-wheel and the arm carried thereby breaks the third circuit andstill further deenergizes the semaphoreoperating magnets, and thiscondition of afi'airs will continue until the train reaches theapparatus at the opposite end of the block, at which point the truckswill actuate the ratchet-wheel the same number of points in the reversedirection until it is brought into normal position and the third circuitis completed. By this arrangement the semaphoreoperating magnets aredeenergized one-third during the entire time the train remains upon theblock, and such arrangement is essential, for the reason that thedeenergizing of the first and second circuits is but momentary andcontinues only while the truck of the car is in contact with thecontact-plates of the primary circuit and does not continue when theentire train has passed onto the block.

If the wires G and G become broken, it is plain that the danger -signalwill be displayed, for the reason that circuits Nos. 1 and 2 will bebroken and the semaphoreoperating magnets deenergized' two-thirds, whichwill immediately allow the dangersignal to arise and indicate that theblock system is out of order, and likewise it but one of the wires G andG becomes broken the magnets will be deenergized sufiiciently to displaythe danger-sigaal, which is held down only when all three of thecircuits are complete and in operative condition. The same thing will betrue if the batteries become impaired, since the current through thecoils will then be insutiicient to hold down the signal-arm. It willthus be seen that the system is one which is thoroughly reliable underall conditions and which is so arranged that impairment of the systemwill be immediately indicated by the same means used to indicate thepresence of the train upon the block.

Although the invention has been described with considerableparticularity, it is plain that the mechanical details may be variedconsiderably and that the ratchet-operating mechanism may be changedwithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

VVha-t I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a block-signal system, the combination of two electromagnets eachbeing provided with two coils independent of each other, a connectionfor the corresponding coils of the two magnets adapting the same tooperate in unison as line-circuits, a local circuit actuated by theline-circuits, a signal for each magnet adapted to be held in oneposition by the combined action of the three circuits and in a differentposition by the action of less than three circuits, and meansautomatically operated by the passage of a train onto the block foractuating one of the circuits for the purpose of changing the positionof the signal, substantially as described. I

2. In a block-signal system, the combination of two electromagnets eachprovided with two coils independent of each other, a connection for thecorresponding coils of the two magnets adapting them to act in unison,each pair of connected coils forming a line-circuit normally closed, alocal circuit adapted to be actuated by the line-circuits, a signal foreach of the electromagnets adapted to indicate a certain condition of ablock when all three of the circuits are closed, and a differentcondition when one of the circuits is broken, and means actuated by thepassage of a train onto the block for breaking one of the circuits tochange the signal, substantially as described.

3. Ina block-signal system, the combination of an electromagnet, adaptedto operate a signal, and provided with three windings, each of thewindings terminating in an independent circuit, one of the circuitsbeing adapted to be broken by the movement of a ratchetwheel, actuatedin one direction by the breaking of one of the remaining circuits, andadapted to be actuated in the opposite direction by the breaking of theother of the two remaining circuits, substantially as described.

a. In an electric signal, the combination of an electromagnet, providedwith three coils, forming independent circuits, an electric signal,adapted to be operated by the electromagnets and means for breaking oneof the circuits by the action of one of thetwo remaining circuits,substantially as described.

5. In a block-signal system, the combination of two electromagnets, eachbeing provided with three independent windings, two of the windings toeach of the magnets being connected to form continuous circuits throughthe two magnets, and a third winding to each of the magnets, formingalocal circuit, a signal for each electromagnet, adapted to be held inone position by the combined action of the three circuits and in adifferent position by the action of less than three circuits, andmeans,actuated by the passage of a train onto the block at either end,for breaking both local circuits and one of the connecting-circuits,-for changing the position of the signal, substantially as described.

6. In a block-signal system, the combination of two electromagnets, eachof the magnets being provided with two independent windings, connectionsfor. the corresponding windings on the two magnets forming twocontinuous independent circuits, a third winding for each of theelectromagnets, forming a local circuit, a signal for each of themagnets, adapted to be held in one position by the energizing of thethree circuits and in a difierent position by the deenergizing of one ormore of the circuits, means, actuated by the passage of a train onto theblock at either end, for changing the condition of one of the continuouscircuits, and means for changing the condition of both local circuits bythe action of one of the continuous circuits for changing the signals atboth ends of the block, substantially as described.

7. In a block-signal system, the combination of two electromagnets, oneat each end of the block, each of the magnets being provided with twowindings, independent of each other and forming two continuous circuitsthrough the two magnets,normally closed,a third winding for each of themagnets, forming a continuous local circuit, normally closed, meansactuated by the passage of a train onto the block at either end, forbreaking one of the continuous circuits and partially deenergizing bothof the magnets simultaneously, and

means, actuated by the breaking of one of the continuous circuits forbreaking both local circuits for the entire time the train remains uponthe block and closing the local circuits simultaneously as the trainpasses oil the block and two signals, adapted to be simultaneouslyoperated by the partial deenergizing of the electromagnets,substantially as described.

8. Ina block-signal system, the combination of two electromagnets, eachprovided with two independent windings, connections for the windings onthe two magnets forming two continuous circuits, a third winding foreach of the magnets, forminga local circuit, a signal for each magnet,provided with a rod, adapted to enter the magnet and be drawn thereintowhen the magnet is energized to a predetermined extent, and adapted tobe withdrawn therefrom when the magnet is partially denergized, meansfor changing the condition of one of the continuous circuits by thepassage of a train onto the block at either end and means for changingthe condition of both local circuits simultaneously,actuated by thechanging of the condition of one of the continuous circuits foractuating the signals simultaneously, substantially as described.

9. In a block'signal system, the combination of two electromagnets, eachprovided with two coils, independent of each other, connections for thecorresponding coils on the two magnets i'orining two continuouscircuits, normally closed, a third winding for each of the magnets,forming a local circuit, normally closed, means, actuated by the passageof a train onto the block at either end for breaking one of thecontinuous circuits, means,actuated by the breaking of one of thecontinuous circuits, and adapted to be moved one degree by the passageof each truck of a train onto the block, and adapted to be moved onedegree in the opposite direction by the passage of each truck ofi' ofthe block for deenergizing both local circuits during the time the trainremains on the block, a signal for each of the electromagnets, providedwith a rod, adapted to enter the magnet and be drawn thereinto when themagnet is fully energized and be withdrawn therefrom when the magnet ispartially deen ergized for actuating the signal, substantially asdescribed.

10. In a block'signal system, the combina tion of two electromagnets,each provided with a coil, a connection between the two'coils, forming acontinuous circuit through the two magnets, a coil for each of themagnets, forming a local circuit for each magnet, means, actuated by thepassage of a train onto the block, for changing the condition of thecontinuous circuit, means actuated by the changing of the condition ofthe continuous circuit for changing the condition of both local circuitssimultaneously, thereby changing the condition of both electromagnets,and a signal for each magnet actuated by the change of conditiontherein, substantially as described.

11. In a block-signal system, the combination of two electromagnets,each provided with a coil, a connection for both coils forming acontinuous circuit through the two magnets, normally closed, a windingfor each magnet, forming a local circuit, normally closed, means,actuated by the passage of a train onto the block, for breaking thecontinuous circuit, means actuated by the breaking of the continuouscircuit, for breaking both local circuits simultaneously, to deenergizeboth of the electromagnets, and a signal for each electromagnet,actuated by the deenergizing thereof, substantially as described.

HOWARD BROOKS.

WVitnesses:

R. L. Loons, T. A. PORTER

